Need to declare factory fitted options on a new car to insurance companies?

[Spudgun]

I've googled this and come up with a host of conflicting information, so thought I'd ask the wise folks on here. I'm toying with the idea of replacing my current car and am pricing up various options on carwow, drivethedeal etc. As part of this I am also looking at insurance costs and on doing dummy quotes I can find no options to select on comparison sites for the 2 factory fitted options I am thinking of (replacing manual air conditioning with climate control and having keyless entry).

I can see the point in an insurer knowing about keyless entry as it will be liked to the vehicle's security, but can't seem to get a quote from any comparison site that allows me to select these as modifications from the standard specification.

Is it less hassle to just not bother with factory fitted options if you want an easier life renewing your insurance each year?

 

[delta0]

My understanding is factory fit options are not required to be declared if they are applied at the time you purchase the car. If they are added after then they do.

 

[Spudgun]

My understanding is factory fit options are not required to be declared if they are applied at the time you purchase the car. If they are added after then they do.

When I started researching this, that was my impression too - but I've seen several insurers have statements such as "This is a cosmetic or performance change to the car away from the manufacturer's standard specification (including optional extras)." (Example taken from Admiral).

So is this something that varies from insurer to insurer and you need to read the small print or risk having a claim denied (and also making comparison websites pointless)?

 

[muon]

Ask the insurance company you are purchasing from. They don't all have the same T&Cs.

My understanding is factory fit options are not required to be declared if they are applied at the time you purchase the car. If they are added after then they do.

For some that is not the case.

So is this something that varies from insurer to insurer and you need to read the small print or risk having a claim denied (and also making comparison websites pointless)?

Well you do a comparison and go down the list until you find which is okay with it. There are many other things which insurance companies specifically prohibit but isn't a question on comparison websites.

 

[Spudgun]

That's the conclusion I'm coming to as well. Kind of makes the comparison sites pointless as you need to check the fine print for optional extras.

Need to ask myself if the optional extras are worth the hassle of doing that every year!

 

[Jokester]

"This is a cosmetic or performance change to the car away from the manufacturer's standard specification (including optional extras)." (Example taken from Admiral).

That's saying that optional extras are part of the standard specification and therefore not required to be declared - so even if added afterwards it's still part of the standard specification.

I wouldn't even consider after market changes, as long as it's still standard kit that you could have got from the factory as a change that needs declared, but you would need to check the specific T&Cs of your insurance company to be sure.

 

[muon]

I'm pretty sure for Admiral you have to declare optional extras. That one sentence alone is misleading if you read it as your are.

Just do a quote and you'll see that for all mods there is an optional extra option.

 

[Nasher]

Well, I've never declared factory fitted options. I've never been told to or asked about it either. They can look up the spec of the car themselves if they really want to.

But then I use good insurers, not ones like Admiral. The ones I use don't even care much about tuning etc either, as long as they are kept in the loop so they know it's not something outrageous or illegal.

 

[muon]

Well, I've never declared factory fitted options. I've never been told to or asked about it either. They can look up the spec of the car themselves if they really want to.

How would they check things you added on an optional basis?

Say you write your car off and ask for market value, are you going to claim for that £5k optional extra you added on that the insurance company had no idea about?

Optional extras these days massively change the value of a car, especially at the top end.

 

[Jokester]

How would they check things you added on an optional basis?

Say you write your car off and ask for market value, are you going to claim for that £5k optional extra you added on that the insurance company had no idea about?

Optional extras these days massively change the value of a car, especially at the top end.

That's why you declare the value of the car?

 

[Nasher]

How would they check things you added on an optional basis?

Say you write your car off and ask for market value, are you going to claim for that £5k optional extra you added on that the insurance company had no idea about?

Optional extras these days massively change the value of a car, especially at the top end.

The options are all listed on the spec when you look up the car.

 

[muon]

That's why you declare the value of the car?

That is just an estimated value. Insurance companies have internal valuation calculations which actually reflects what they would have to pay you when the car is written off. This value for example decreases over time, you don't re-estimate a value at renewal do you?

They are not declared value policies.

The options are all listed on the spec when you look up the car.

So they should assume you took all of them and so you car is worth double the base price?

 

[Jokester]

you don't re-declare a value at renewal do you?

You're supposed to, it impacts the renewal cost.

 

[Nasher]

So they should assume you took all of them and so you car is worth double the base price?

What? Why would they assume you have ALL the options after looking it up and seeing you don't...

 

[muon]

What?

If I give you a registration number of a car, will you be able to tell me if they took the optional satnav system? Picked more expensive alloys?

 

[paradigm]

So they should assume you took all of them and so you car is worth double the base price?

Playing devils advocate though, how would a second or third owner know what was an option or not?

How can they be expected to list their optional extras to the insurance company?

Sure a lot of us on here could probably work out what a used car had spec-wise that wasn't standard fit, but I'd wager 90-95% of the car buying public wouldn't have a clue.

 

[muon]

Playing devils advocate though, how would a second or third owner know what was an option or not?

Well in theory unless its a higher trim with them as standard, it is optional. You could argue the same with after market mods, its not always easy for a buyer to know.

Besides as we've established not every insurance company asks for optional extras.

 

[Nasher]

If I give you a registration number of a car, will you be able to tell me if they took the optional satnav system? Picked more expensive alloys?

Yep, you can. I can look up my GT86 with Toyota with the VIN and it lists all the options which were on the car at registration.

 

[paradigm]

Well in theory unless its a higher trim with them as standard, it is optional. You could argue the same with after market mods.

But, as I edited, 95% of "joe public" buying a 7 year old Kia won't know if anything was standard fit or an option. It's not like it's always possible to find an outdated brochure.

 

[Jokester]

Playing devils advocate though, how would a second or third owner know what was an option or not?

Indeed, just looking at an Audi A3 has about 80 options beyond engine and gearbox - even assuming these are all just binary options results in a total of 1.2x10^24 possible option combinations. Do you think insurance companies have these each individually costed?